The Art and Style of Yoshitaka Amano

[MidgarFanatic]

Well, about twenty years ago now I guess, I played the original Final Fantasy for my Nintendo Entertainment System. The game itself was thrilling enough and does not need much discussion here. But, shortly after playing it I was looking through a video game magazine and came across an article which was discussing it. The article had some accompanying concept art by a Japanese artist who I came to learn was named Yoshitaka Amano, and, for some strange reason, I could not quite understand why the drawings appeared to me to have absolutely nothing to do with the game. I stared at them with a sense of bewilderment and mass confusion trying to comprehend what I was staring at. It took me some time to realize that the illustrations, in their utterly unique and abstract manner, were deserving of recognition on their own.

The trend continued for the next few games in the series. We did not have the Internet back in those days, so coming across his artwork was sparse and hard to come by; usually limited to the odd feature in a magazine or in the instruction manuals or player’s guides. Part of the fun came from trying to figure out just what the hell I was looking at, finding the clues and symbols which identified the characters as the 16-bit sprites from the game. (aha, that is Kain the Dragoon… because of the helmet XD lol, it was all such fun)

I am glad that Amano still does much of the concept art for the FF games today, as it is one of the cords which has binded the series together. Which is important within a series that has no intentionally direct links such as characters or plot elements. Because it is elements and symbols which crossover (and not physical elements), Amano’s contributions to the look and feel of the FF games have become all the more important for it’s success. (Don’t believe me… then explain the coincidence that he has had almost no hand in developing just about any of the Fraggle Fantasys XD) The fanboy in me still gets a thrill when I see his name pop up in the opening credits for all the newest games.

Although I cannot say that Yoshitake Amano is my favorite artist, his style is a little too chaotic and surreal for the art that I really crave. But I cannot deny that he brings a magical and unique new approach to, well, certainly at least the way we conceive the stories in video games. And all of his illustrations have a degree of detail and passion in them that deserve to be recognized and held amongst the many great contemporary artists that we know of today. And I am not the only one who feels so, after all, his artwork can be viewed in many of the great galleries in New York and other parts of the world

This is my favorite piece of Yoshitake Amano artwork, it is a representation of the cast and crew of the Prima Vista theatre ship from Final Fantasy IX, a rather overlooked rag-tag band of misfits from this beauty of an installment of the FF series…

What do you all think of Yoshitaka Amano?

[Terminal Est]

I like the sort of essay you have presented about how certain elements can tie a series together and somewhat define it, such as Amano's unique artwork. I agree with this, and admit that his work is what had often attracted me to the series, or that at the very least, I thought of Final Fantasy when I saw it. (Second is Nobuo's music.)

I completely love his style though, it has this sort of Gothic mood to it quite often which very much appeals to me, and while it may not always fit the embodiment of that which is presented in the game itself, it spans the imagination which I appreciate, most especially in the early games where the graphics were sometimes questionable. I loved imagining that my super knight could deal so much damage and take out dragons by the dozen and at the same time, being prettier than most women. XD It sort of has this dreamy and unique atmosphere to it, because his style is so unique that while not even looking at his work, you can see it clearly in your mind.

After Ayami Kojima, he is certainly one of my favourites.

I have learned, however, through the years, that you either love him or you hate him, and with good reason. I myself do not like the drawings of buff characters like Yang or Steiner as much as I love his depictions of Cecil, Shadow or Kain. And the women he draws are fantastic as well. He sort of has this rule about never drawing dark hair though, or barely ever, so seeing Aerith with blond was a little strange, but fun.

When I first saw his work, I tried to emulate it with my own drawings. He makes a lot of details, but they seem as mostly wiggles and quickly done...but it is not that simple. Still, he had quite an impact on the series, and on me as well. I hope he keeps doing work for a long time to come.

Here is one of my favourite ones, which I have loved for so many years.



As well, Amano has many pieces of art that are not related to Final Fantasy, but just as gorgeous and interetsing, such as the following.

[Miss Lockheart]

You guys pretty much said it all so I thought I'd just add some of my favourite images-

[MidgarFanatic]

Originally Posted by Miss Lockheart

You guys pretty much said it all, so I thought I'd just add some of my favourite images-

Aren't those beautiful? I love the one with Yuna; looks almost like he used pencil crayons as a medium.

We do not see nearly enough of Amano art from FFX... here's another one that also has Tidus in it that I like:

And here's one from FFXII that show's less of the "chaotic" rendering that I had mentioned:

Originally Posted by Terminal Est

As well, Amano has many pieces of art that are not related to Final Fantasy, but just as gorgeous and interetsing, such as the following.

Batman:

Now does that not have style or what?

[Miss Lockheart]

I love those!!!!

I think the FFX pictures look about the closest to the actual game characters, from what I've seen so far. And that pic of FFXII is just amazing!! Again, Vaan and Ashe actually look like that ^^

[JET73L]

Amano rocks. Some of his pictures look.. odd, but he's done some of my favorite pieces of concept art.

[Zotar]

Originally Posted by MidgarFanatic

Now does that not have style or what?

I can just hear the air-ships wizzing by. Bravo Amano!